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Sun, 02 Aug 2015 22:27:24 +0000SRA Framework 2.0en-gbRussian oil production dips in July http://www.brecorder.com/markets/energy/europe/250062-russian-oil-production-dips-in-july.html
http://www.brecorder.com/markets/energy/europe/250062-russian-oil-production-dips-in-july.htmlMOSCOW: Russian oil output fell to 10.65 million barrels per day (bpd) in July, down from 10.71 million bpd in June, falling from post-Soviet highs maintained since March, Energy Ministry data showed on Sunday.

The fall was mostly due to lower condensate production at Gazprom, included in the oil figures, the data showed.

In July, Gazprom stopped units at its Surgut Gas Condensate Stabilization Plant for maintenance, according to the Energy Ministry.

Russian production remained above that of Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter and leading OPEC member, which pumped at an average 10.6 million bpd, according to a Reuters survey.

Russia and OPEC have refrained from coming together to prop up crude prices, which have halved since last year to around $52 per barrel. This week, OPEC indicated it would stick to its policy of defending market share.

Russia has managed to keep oil output near its highs, despite low oil prices and western sanctions, thanks to the weak rouble.

The Energy Ministry sees 2015 average oil production at 525 million to 527 million tonnes (10.5 million to 10.54 million bpd).

In tonnes, oil output reached 45.033 million in July versus 43.824 million in June. Gazprom Neft, Gazprom's oil arm, and Bashneft, now controlled by the state, slightly increased production, the data showed.

Russian gas production was at 44.77 billion cubic metres (bcm) last month, or 1.44 bcm a day, versus 42.58 bcm in June.

Copyright Reuters, 2015

]]>imad_kueconomist@yahoo.com (Imaduddin)EuropeSun, 02 Aug 2015 10:28:27 +0000Oil falls after OPEC comments imply no supply cut http://www.brecorder.com/markets/energy/europe/249957-oil-falls-after-opec-comments-imply-no-supply-cut.html
http://www.brecorder.com/markets/energy/europe/249957-oil-falls-after-opec-comments-imply-no-supply-cut.htmlLONDON: Oil prices fell on Friday as concern over global oversupply intensified after the head of oil producers' cartel OPEC indicated there would be no cuts in production despite a huge global oversupply. Benchmark North Sea Brent crude headed for its fifth consecutive weekly fall after comments on Thursday in Moscow by Abdullah al-Badri, secretary-general of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Badri said rising demand would prevent a further fall in oil prices and suggested cuts in OPEC output would have little impact on the market. Brent was down 70 cents at $52.61 a barrel by 0935 GMT after settling 7 cents lower in the previous session. US light crude was down 90 cents at $47.62 a barrel.

OPEC members produced around 31.25 million barrels per day (bpd) in the second quarter, about 3 million bpd more than daily demand, a Reuters survey showed this week. The surplus oil has gone into stockpiles around the world, filling storage depots from China to Chile, and driving prices down sharply. Both major crude oil benchmarks are down more than 50 percent from a year ago. Figures from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) this week showed total US oil stocks hit a third successive week of all-time highs at 1.969 billion barrels.

Overall, US stocks are up 145 million barrels from a year ago. Commerzbank's head of commodities research in Frankfurt, Eugen Weinberg, said OPEC must eventually cut back on production to avoid much lower oil prices. "We are also hopeful that OPEC will agree on a stricter quota discipline at its December meeting," Weinberg said. Chart analysts say oil futures still look very weak.

Tamas Varga, analyst at London brokerage PVM Oil Associates, said a brief pause in the downtrend appeared to be over. "Today hopefully will (tell us) if the relatively stable performance of the last two days is a correction, or the market actually is about to bottom out. From the technical perspective it is probably the former," Varga said.

Investors awaited the release of US employment data later on Friday for indications on the direction of the dollar.

Dollar strength has also weighed on oil prices in recent weeks as a higher US currency makes fuel more expensive for oil importers who earn euros, pounds and other currencies.

The US data could provide further clues to whether the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in September.

Copyright Reuters, 2015

]]>s.rs96@yahoo.com (Shoaib-ur-Rehman Siddiqui)EuropeFri, 31 Jul 2015 13:05:04 +0000Oil falls after OPEC comments imply no supply cuthttp://www.brecorder.com/markets/energy/europe/249896-oil-falls-after-opec-comments-imply-no-supply-cut.html
http://www.brecorder.com/markets/energy/europe/249896-oil-falls-after-opec-comments-imply-no-supply-cut.htmlLONDON: Oil prices fell on Friday as concern over global oversupply intensified after the head of oil producers' cartel OPEC indicated there would be no cuts in production despite a huge global oversupply.

Benchmark North Sea Brent crude headed for its fifth consecutive weekly fall after comments on Thursday in Moscow by Abdullah al-Badri, secretary-general of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Badri said rising demand would prevent a further fall in oil prices and suggested cuts in OPEC output would have little impact on the market.

Brent was down 70 cents at $52.61 a barrel by 0935 GMT after settling 7 cents lower in the previous session. US light crude was down 90 cents at $47.62 a barrel.

OPEC members produced around 31.25 million barrels per day (bpd) in the second quarter, about 3 million bpd more than daily demand, a Reuters survey showed this week.

The surplus oil has gone into stockpiles around the world, filling storage depots from China to Chile, and driving prices down sharply. Both major crude oil benchmarks are down more than 50 percent from a year ago.

Figures from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) this week showed total US oil stocks hit a third successive week of all-time highs at 1.969 billion barrels. Overall, US stocks are up 145 million barrels from a year ago.

Commerzbank's head of commodities research in Frankfurt, Eugen Weinberg, said OPEC must eventually cut back on production to avoid much lower oil prices.

"We are also hopeful that OPEC will agree on a stricter quota discipline at its December meeting," Weinberg said.

Chart analysts say oil futures still look very weak.

Tamas Varga, analyst at London brokerage PVM Oil Associates, said a brief pause in the downtrend appeared to be over.

"Today hopefully will (tell us) if the relatively stable performance of the last two days is a correction, or the market actually is about to bottom out. From the technical perspective it is probably the former," Varga said.

Investors awaited the release of US employment data later on Friday for indications on the direction of the dollar.

Dollar strength has also weighed on oil prices in recent weeks as a higher US currency makes fuel more expensive for oil importers who earn euros, pounds and other currencies.

The US data could provide further clues to whether the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in September.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in September jumped $1.21 to $49.19 a barrel compared with Tuesday's close.

Brent North Sea crude for September won 61 cents to stand at $53.91 a barrel in London late afternoon deals, having dived on Tuesday to $52.25 -- the lowest since February -- on supply glut fears.

The US government's Department of Energy said Wednesday that American crude inventories tumbled 4.2 million barrels in the week to July 24.

That surprised the market because expectations had been for a gain of 850,000 barrels, according to analysts polled by Bloomberg News.

Falling inventories tend to push prices higher because they indicate strengthening demand in the world's biggest consumer of oil.

"Crude oil prices spiked higher following the latest US inventories (data) which posted a weekly fall of 4.2 million barrels," said analyst Joshua Mahoney at trading firm IG.

"The gradual drawdown of historically high stockpiles means that despite a steady move towards something like normality, the supply and demand picture remains out of kilter -- a fact reflected in the six-month low seen in Brent yesterday."

Crude futures had fallen in earlier deals ahead of the Fed's latest US interest rate call.

The US central bank's policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will issue a statement at the end of a two-day meet, with investors hoping for clearer signs on the timing of a US interest rate hike.

A rate rise will boost the greenback, making dollar-priced oil more expensive to holders of weaker currencies, hurting demand and helping push crude prices lower.

Investors will "pay close attention to the text of the FOMC statement for any confirmation/insights for the timeline of the first rate hike," Singapore's United Overseas Bank said in a research note.

Worries over the Chinese economy after a recent rout in the country's stock market and global crude oversupply were also keeping buyers at bay, analysts said.

A plunge in Chinese shares this week has stoked fears that demand from the world's second biggest economy will be affected.

Chinese stocks ended the morning session 0.21 percent lower Wednesday, erasing earlier gains and extending a plunge of more than 11 percent in the previous three sessions.

Saipem, which is 43 percent owned by oil major Eni, said in a statement it expected to post a net loss this year of around 800 million euros and an operating loss (EBIT) of around 450 million euros.

Previous guidance had pegged net profit for the year at between 200 and 300 million euros and operating profits of 500 to 700 million euros.

"Rather than kitchen sinking, this is just sinking," said Andrea Scauri, energy analyst at Mediobanca Securities.

Eni brought in Stefano Cao as chief executive at Saipem earlier this year to turn round a company which has seen around 12 billion euros wiped from its balance sheet in the last 30 months after a corruption probe in Algeria, two profit warnings and a glum business outlook.

Low oil and gas prices have prompted major oil companies and governments to cut energy investments and shelve projects, starving oil service companies of business and forcing streamlining.

Saipem, which employs around 50,000 people, said it would cut 8,800 jobs in the period 2015-2017 as part of a turnaround plan that sees savings in the two years of 1.3 billion euros.

Last week sources told Reuters Saipem was working with Bain & Company to draw up a restructuring plan to help it cut costs and counter falling oil prices.

"The further steep fall in the oil price has resulted in a major disruption, which is not likely to be reversed in the short-to-medium term," Cao said.

Saipem said its turnaround plan would include the "rationalisation of construction yards and disposal of vessels".

In the first half, the company said it posted an operating loss of 790 million euros which reflected the termination by Russia's Gazprom of the South Stream pipeline contract as well as writedowns in the second quarter.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in September dropped 27 cents to $47.12 a barrel compared with Monday's close.

Brent North Sea crude for September delivery shed 71 cents to stand at $52.76 a barrel in London midday deals.

Crude futures had slid for a fourth straight session on Monday as the steepest drop in Chinese equities since 2007 fuelled fears about reduced demand in China, the world's top energy consumer.

"When the Chinese market drops to such an extent, it sparks a lot of fear among investors. The drop in crude oil prices is because of that fear," said Daniel Ang, an investment analyst with Phillip Futures in Singapore.

"We really have to see how the China market will move going forward," he told AFP.

Analysts fear the turmoil in China's stock market will affect demand in the country that has the world's second biggest economy.

Oil prices have also been depressed owing to an oversupply of global crude coming from strong production in the United States as well as from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries that is led by Saudi Arabia.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2015

]]>imad_kueconomist@yahoo.com (Imaduddin)EuropeTue, 28 Jul 2015 12:21:35 +0000Statoil CEO sees oil at $80 by 2018http://www.brecorder.com/markets/energy/europe/249522-statoil-ceo-sees-oil-at-$80-by-2018.html
http://www.brecorder.com/markets/energy/europe/249522-statoil-ceo-sees-oil-at-$80-by-2018.htmlOSLO: Statoil's Chief Executive said on Tuesday he saw crude oil prices climbing to $80 a barrel by 2018 and repeated the price levels at which the company would have the necessary cashflow to pay out future dividends.

"We think there will be some time before we will see a balanced market. But we have also been clear about our expectation for the oil price to rise again and we have indicated around $80 before 2018," Statoil CEO Eldar Saetre said.

Statoil has said before oil prices need to be at $100 a barrel in 2016, at $80 in 2017 and $60 in 2018 for the company to have the free cashflow to maintain a dividend payment.

A strong dollar and signs of increasing US oil production added further pressure to prices, which have already been depressed by a global oversupply of crude.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for September delivery fell 63 cents to $47.51 a barrel, pulling back from a near four-month low of $47.20 struck earlier in the day.

Brent North Sea crude for September dropped $1.01 a barrel to stand at $53.61 a barrel in late London deals. It earlier struck a four-month low at $53.33.

"The strengthening of the US dollar, weak manufacturing data from China and rise in the US rig count added to the woes of a weak crude market," said EY analyst Sanjeev Gupta.

The Chinese government on Monday said profits of major industrial firms slipped 0.3 percent year-on-year in June to 588.57 billion yuan.

On Friday the preliminary reading of Caixin's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) -- an independent survey of China's manufacturing activity -- came in at 48.2 for July, the weakest reading since 48.1 in April 2014.

Shanghai shares meanwhile suffered their biggest one-day decline in more than eight years Monday, plummeting 8.48 percent despite government efforts to prop up the market.

In a sign of drillers ramping up production, US producers added 21 oil rigs last week, according to oil services firm Baker Hughes.

Also contributing to downward pressure on prices is the expectation the US Federal Reserve will start raising interest rates before the end of the year.

This is helping to strengthen the greenback and making oil, which is priced in dollars, more expensive to holders of weaker currencies.

A strong dollar and signs of increasing US oil production added further pressure to prices, which have already been depressed by a global oversupply of crude.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for September delivery fell 64 cents to $47.50 a barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for September dropped 94 cents to stand at $53.68 a barrel in London midday deals.

"The strengthening of the US dollar, weak manufacturing data from China and rise in the US rig count added to the woes of a weak crude market," said Sanjeev Gupta, who heads the Asia Pacific oil and gas practice at professional services organisation EY.

The Chinese government on Monday said profits of major industrial firms slipped 0.3 percent year-on-year in June to 588.57 billion yuan.

On Friday the preliminary reading of Caixin's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) -- an independent survey of China's manufacturing activity -- came in at 48.2 for July, the weakest reading since 48.1 in April 2014.

Shanghai shares meanwhile suffered their biggest one-day decline in more than eight years Monday, plummeting 8.48 percent in defiance of government efforts to prop up the market.

In a sign of drillers ramping up production, US producers added 21 oil rigs last week, according to oil services firm Baker Hughes.

Adding to downward pressure on prices are expectations the US Federal Reserve will start raising interest rates before the end of the year.

This is helping to strengthen the greenback and making oil, which is priced in dollars, more expensive to holders of weaker currencies.

MOSCOW: Russian gas company Gazprom said on Friday it had filed a case against Turkmenistan's Turkmengaz at the international arbitration court in Stockholm over the price in a supply contract. A spokesman for the Russian company said: "A lawsuit has been filed in Stockholm.